“I thought it was distasteful,” Oberhelman said. “And I thought it was sour grapes.”

In its final visit as a member of the Mountain West Conference, BYU (25-2) faces San Diego State (27-1) on Saturday with just a little bit on the line. Try first place in the conference, a potential No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and, for the Aztecs, vengeance for their only loss.

But Aztecs coach Steve Fisher thinks there’s something equally important at stake in the nationally televised CBS game: SDSU’s reputation. In an unusual move, Fisher reached out to the student body this week and virtually dropped a Ron Burgundy “Stay classy San Diego” reference.

In a letter e-mailed to students, Fisher wrote in part, “We know that the energy and enthusiasm brought by The Show is what makes Viejas Arena one of the toughest home courts in the country. It is important to remember that when you are in the student section, you represent something greater than yourself. You represent San Diego State.

“... We cannot cross the line into topics that are out of bounds and distasteful, particularly making fun of one’s religion.”

Will The Show heed Fisher’s plea and not cross that mysterious, undefined sportsmanship line?

Depends upon whom you ask. Members of The Show said they had been discussing their BYU decorum long before Fisher sent the e-mail.

“We hate BYU with a passion, but it doesn’t have anything to do with what they believe in,” said Nick Seistrup, a 2008 SDSU graduate. “We don’t like them because they’re leaving our conference and they think they’re better than anyone else.

“We’re going to do everything we can to make sure all the cheers are anti-BYU, not anti-Latter-day Saints.”

Asked if he thought the “You’re still Mormon” chant was in poor taste, Seistrup said, “Yes, absolutely.”

Brandon Haines, who plays the saxophone in the SDSU pep band, disagreed.

“Honestly,” said Haines, “I think everything goes. At a sporting event, it’s all about getting into their heads and intimidation.”

After last year’s game, Oberhelman said he received about a dozen e-mails from BYU fans complaining about the chant. He said maybe one or two others criticized some of the SDSU students’ wardrobe choice.

“BYU fans were coming up, asking us to take pictures,” he said. “It kind of makes me mad. They’re trying to kill us with kindness and we’re trying to get into their heads.”

“I wish they wouldn’t do it,” Oberhelman said of the clothing selection. “But we also in no way shape or form have the ability of preventing somebody from wearing a shirt and tie.”

SDSU’s athletic staff will inspect signs and T-shirts when fans enter the arena. SDSU students have been selling T-shirts recently with a profane message about Fredette’s girlfriend.

Signs are inspected before every game, but SDSU Associate Athletic Director of Media Relations Mike May said, “They’ll be inspected a little bit closer.”

Fans wearing T-shirts deemed inappropriate will have to remove the shirt. They’ll be offered a black T-shirt that’s a part of a Saturday giveaway.

Fisher has repeatedly lavished praise on The Show for helping create Viejas’ raucous atmosphere, complimenting the cast for their zany costumes, creative chants and bizarre B-list celebrity cutout heads.

“I love our crowd,” Fisher said. “You can have fun, but you have to know when to take a step back. They just need to be sensitive to what they’re doing and saying.”

As you’d expect, The Show plans to unleash fresh material Saturday. As an ode to BYU coach Dave Rose’s wife, there will be a placard reading, “Mrs. Rose Is The Only Cougar I Like.”

One of the many Fredette reference’s will be “I Refuse To Call A Grown Man Jimmer.”

Playing off the CBS initials and the SDSU-BYU football replay controversy when Cougars employee and graduate Chad Bunn was part of the replay team, there will be this:

Chad

Bunn can’t

Save You.

Regarding the Bunn bit, Oberhelman said, “That is hilarious. To me, they’re the best student section in the country. What differentiates them from so many other student sections is their creativity. The stuff just has people rolling in the aisles.”

After home games, Aztecs players walk from their bench to the opposite side of the court, exchange high-fives and chat with members of the student section.

“I would ask The Show to come up with the funniest, craziest things they can come up with to help distract Jimmer at the free throw line,” said Aztecs guard D.J. Gay. “Just be as creative as they can be and be our sixth man.”

Asked if he thought the Aztecs’ student section might cross the sportsmanship line, Gay said, “I don’t know where that line is. But there definitely is a line that can be crossed and has been crossed in the past and probably will be crossed on Saturday.”

Haines, the pep band saxophonist, thinks the students will cross, stomp on and leap over the line.

“If it’s going as far as chanting, ‘You’re still Mormon,’ I definitely would not doubt we’ll reach it,” he said.

No, no, begged Fisher.

“I want the whole country to see this team, program, school and fan base in the kind of atmosphere that we’re all immensely proud of,” he said.

“If it does get out of control,” said Beau Bearden, a senior journalism major who dresses as a gecko, “we’ll bring it back. We respect coach (Fisher) because he respects The Show.”

Seistrup said there’s no place for the “You’re still Mormon” cry.

“We can’t have that,” he said. “It’s just stupid.”

But what happens if Fredette starts raining threes, takes the ball to the basket, hits contorted layups, nails every free throw, the Cougars win and the “BYU! BYU!” chants echoe throughout the arena?

Will the student section be crass or classy?

“If that happens, there’s not much we can do at that point,” Seistrup said. “We just gotta make sure we win.”